


Family traditions

by Mierke



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 16:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5423645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoe figured it was time for a new family tradition. Post-series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family traditions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [i_am_girlfriday](https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_girlfriday/gifts).



First it had been the event itself - 

Zoe had tried to make it non-holiday specific, but Lemon wouldn't have none of it.

"You might be Jewish, Zoe, but Bluebell is a Christian town and we celebrate Christmas, not Hanukkah. And definitely not _nothing_."

\- then the invitations - 

The cards had read "Lemon Breeland and Zoe Hart invite you to their Christmas party", and Zoe had wondered out loud why Lemon's name had been first on the invitation.

"It's just alphabetical, silly!" Lemon had replied with a smile on her face.

\- then the menu -

"I have some ideas-" Zoe had started to say, but Lemon hadn't even let her finish. 

"Everybody knows you're not exactly a kitchen princess, honey," Lemon had said. "I'll take care of it."

\- and even the decorations - 

"I'm sure you mean well, but you just don't know what the appropriate decorations are. We have traditions to uphold," had been Lemon's reply to everything Zoe had suggested, from light up snowmen to fake snowflakes for their Christmas tree.

\- and now the day itself had come, and Zoe was ready to put down her foot. She would not let Lemon walk all over her, not even one more time. It had all been her idea, too, back when they had both just gotten married and throwing a Christmas party/dinner together had seemed romantic, straight out of a fairytale. After all, she loved Lavon, and Wade loved Lemon, and she and Lemon had developed this weird thing over the years that might even be called a friendship (if you squinted). 

She wasn't sure how she had forgotten what a control freak Lemon was, or how little she had ever trusted Zoe with anything, but she blamed the rush of newfound marriage and the exhaustion of having to take care of a baby. 

Determined she got out of bed, Harley on her arm, to get an early start on the day and start preparing. When she arrived in the kitchen, though, Lemon was already happily chopping along, giving directions to Lavon who looked hardly more awake than Zoe felt (though he didn't have the excuses of a nine-month-old keeping him awake, so he had no right at all to look this exhausted, Zoe thought). 

"What the heck, Lemon?" she said. "It's five in the morning!"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Zoe!" Lemon answered, "I'll-"

"You'll take care of it, yeah, yeah, I know," she said, tapping her foot impatiently. She put Harley into the playpen Lavon had set up for them, where the little boy promptly began to cry.

"Just separation anxiety," Zoe laughed it off to Lemon and Lavon. "He'll be fine, he just needs to learn. Now, what can I do to help?"

"Why, you don't need to do anything," Lemon said. "You just take care of your boy while we take care of the preparations."

As if that was all she needed to say, Lemon turned back to the stuffing she was preparing. 

"Lemon," Zoe said, leaning her hands on the kitchen island. She vaguely noticed Lavon scuffling out of the kitchen, taking Harley with him. 

"Lemon Hayes," she repeated, louder this time, when the woman didn't immediately look up from what she was doing. 

"Yes?" Lemon eventually asked, a smile on her face but the knife in her hand a silent threat. 

"This was my idea," Zoe said. "OUR party. It was supposed to be a new tradition that we could create _together_ and instead you're doing all the creation and all I have been able to do is procreate!"

Lemon stilled and now turned fully towards Zoe. She also dropped the knife, which made Zoe breathe just a little bit easier. 

"I just wanted to help," she said. "You've got so much going on, with taking care of a baby, plus your work in the practice, and then with Wade - I mean, I love the guy, but I can't imagine he has been good at housekeeping. And I didn't think you'd accept my help in any other area, so I thought, I could just take care of this, you know? I know this stuff and I've done it before and I've done it well."

Zoe burst into tears, and Lemon moved around the kitchen island to grab her into a hug. 

"It's okay, honey," she whispered into her ear, which only made Zoe sob harder.

"I'm so sorry," Zoe sobbed, waving at her eyes in a desperate attempt to still her ever-flowing tears. "I was just so mad, because I thought you still didn't trust me with anything of importance. I thought you didn't think me good enough to build a Bluebell tradition with you."

"Oh, you silly!" Lemon said, grabbing Zoe into a hug. "You are a part of our life here. Traditions stem from family, and you might not be our family by blood, but you are definitely family."

"Are things okay in here?" Lavon asked, sticking his head around the corner. 

"We're fine," Zoe said with a smile, disentangling herself from Lemon. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Peachy!" Lemon said, and she gave Lavon a dazzling smile.

"You go on keep Harley company," she continued. "Me and Zoe will take it from here."

Lavon looked from one woman to the other as if he didn't entirely trust what he was hearing, but both Zoe and Lemon shooed him away. Eventually he shrugged and retreated back into the living room, where they could hear him brambling to the baby. 

"You can chop the onions," Lemon said, and Zoe settled at the kitchen island. "That will also explain those teary eyes to anyone who might happen to stop by."

"Thank you," Zoe said, as she started preparing the food as Lemon instructed. She might never be a chief, but she definitely knew how to wield a knife. 

"Of course," Lemon said, and they smiled at each other in newfound understanding.

The start of a new tradition was born, and, just like in any other family, Zoe thought, squabbling was just a part of creating the right atmosphere. Happy Holidays to them all.


End file.
